The invention relates to a method and means for taking a sample from a flow of fluid comprising gaseous and liquid components, such as hydrocarbon fluid passing out of a well communicating with a permeable underground formation.
Prior to developing a hydrocarbon-containing formation for a full-scale recovery of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons therefrom, the properties of the hydrocarbons to be recovered must be determined. The knowledge of these properties is required for designing a scheme for treating the hydrocarbon fluid in the well site, and for designing the pipeline through which the fluid is to be transported from the site to a loading station or refinery.
In prior art techniques for appraisal testing of a new well, full-scale gas/liquid separator equipment is installed temporarily on the site and the well is allowed to produce at the desired production rate. The hydrocarbons are then passed through the separator equipment at a relatively low pressure, such as 1,000 psi (70 kg/cm.sup.2). After an equilibrium has been reached in the production, the quantities of gas and liquid passing through the separator per unit of time are measured, and a sample is taken from the volumes of liquid and gas. The samples are bottled and transported to a laboratory for further testing in order to obtain information on the composition and phase behavior thereof.